A city in
the central part of Lithuania, located on the banks of the upper reaches
of the Nevezis river. It is often referred to as the capital of Aukstaitija.
Panevyzys is an important centre of industry and culture. As the fifth
biggest city in Lithuania, Panevezys has 132.000 inhabitants. In historical
sources the name of Panevezys was first mentioned in 1503. In the old
town a visitor's view is attracted by the churches of Sts. Peter and Paul's
and the Holy Trinity and the cathedral of the Kings Christ. The town has
been famed by the performances of the Panevezys Drama Theatre under the
artistic director Juozas Miltinis. The museum of local lore presents an
exposition on the history of the city from its very beginning. Upyte has
an interesting museum of linen. There is also a memorial museum of the
writer G. Petkeviciute - Bite. On the left bank of the Nevezis river the
city has preserved its oldest park called Skaistakalnishttp://www.panevezysregion.com/

Click
on Photos to Enlarge

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Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman of panevezys

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'Haim Lazar-Litai
was born in Panevezys 31/5/1914. He was the leader of Beitar
in Panevezys until 1940. During the Holocaust Period he was
a member of the Underground in the the Vilna ghetto and later
escaped the ghetto with Yosef Glazman to the Rudniki Forest.
Unit; Battalion Nekama (Mest) After the war he worked for Bricha
( helping Jews migrate to the Land of Yisrael.) . He came to
Israel in 1947 and wrote some books. He passed away in 31/8/1997

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Armed Lithuanians and a Germans force Jews to disrobe at an extermination site at Panevezys, Lithuania

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Members of hashomer Hatzair during Hachshara

#pan-16:A meeting of members of pioneering training programs (hachsharot) of the He - Chaluts Zionist movement from the Panevezys region in Lithuania. photographed in 1935.

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Members of hashomer Hatzair during Hachshara

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Members of hashomer Hatzair

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The Brauer family home in Panevezys prior to 1939. The address was Ukmerges Gatve #34.
credit; Boris Brauer

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Eduard Brauer with parents; Menashe Brauer and Sonia nee Lurie.
Menashe and Sonia left Lithuania for Chicago in 1940. Eduard perished
in Dachau in 1945.

The boys of the last graduating class of the Panevezio Zydu
Gimnazia in the last month of 1940 ( during the Soviet rule). standing
from left; Boris Brauer, Levit ( was hidden during the war by the
Polish movie house owner: Chmelnitzki, survived) Froika Gurevitz (
perished in 1941) , Milner ( perished in 1941), Chemachovitz ( escaped
to Russia during first days of war- survived) Luria ( perished in
1941),? in front of Luria ( came from a near by shtetl to study in
the Gimnazia), ? ( nicknamed-Kityan- Perished) Chaim Rotenberg (
perished in 1942), Moshe levin ( survived the war as soldier of the
Red Army- killed in berlin 2 days after the war ended)

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The graduating class of the Panevezio Zydu Gimnazia in
December of 1940.
boys; Standing from left; Moshe levin, ?, Boris Brauer, Chaim
Rotenberg ( perished), ? ( perished), Borka Voyzik ( survived and
lived in Holon), Lurie ( perished),
Chemachovitz ( escaped to Russia and survived), on the ground; Mota
Grojcer and Froika Gurevitz ( both perished in 1941) Girls; ?, Gita
nee Levjan ( family sent to Russia- she survived and married Voichik-
live in Holon ) Sara Bernshtein ( the best student- only daughter of
the doctor- girlfriend of Boris, perished) sitting on the ground;
Taibe Plaus- survived and moved to Israel after the war, standing to
the right of her; Voichik sister ( she perished) . Other are unknown
to Boris

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( also in Vilna front) Novo Vileika ( near Vilna) , 4, 1918. The
picture was sent by friends to Joseph Brower ( born in Lithuania in
1885, came to the U.S in 1905) . In the back, in Russian; " Our dear
friend in New York,
a vivid note fromus in Novo Vileika fighting for independent
Lithuania" signed; Leon livshitz, david leibovitz, ? Shvartz, Chazan,
Rovim, Studinsky, Leibovitz- It is picture of Lithuanian Jew.s who
fought the Bolshaviks.Also in the picture; top left; Ed Brauer. The
woman pictured was a nurse

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Boris Brauer and his parents; Fania nee Krieman and Ed Brauer.

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The Marcus on the left ( all perished in 1941) and Brauer
families ( baby Boris and his mother survived- father perished)
Picture taken c 1925

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From left, Zohar ( Igor) Brauer, Grandma; Sonia nee Luria, Boris
Brauer holding the dog; Zotzka
The grandparents left for America in 1940. boris , Zohar and their
mother,were sent by the Soviet rule to Siberia in 1941 ( a few days
before the nazis attacked Lithuania) both boys live in the los Angeles
area in 2006.

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Boris and his mother visiting Riga.

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Sitting at bottom; Miryam Brower ( daughter of uncle Joseph, a
visitor from the U.S), Eduard Brauer and his son; Boris
sitting in the middle; Grisha/ Gershon Marcus ( owner of a branch of
the Marcus family of Kovno- tobacco and American film distribution,
perished with family in 1941), daughter of Gershon, Gasia Marcus,
Felicia ( daughter of uncle Joseph Brower, a visitor from the U.S)
Fania Brauer
standing; a friend of the family ( name unknown) , Bethy Marcus (
related to the Vilishensky family of paris who later moved to Brazil)
, ? - a visitor from Kovno ( he owned a car).Picture taken in 1932

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Boris and his parents during a summer in Palanga on the shore of
the Baltic Sea it is the busiest Lithuanian summer resort with
beautiful sand beaches.

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Panevezys c 1938; Boris and Igor ( Zohar) Brauer. Igor came from
the Soviet Union to california in the 1970s'.

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Panevezys 1938; The first picture taken by Boris with his very
first camera. with friends; Zaika Dambo and Maika Glotzer ( both
perished in 1941)

Eduard Brauer ( far right) with some relatives visiting from
America; to his left; his brother; Joseph, his brothers' daughter;
Miryam, his uncle ? Brower (brother of Eduard' father, Menashe)

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Palanga, 1927; Boris and his parents

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c 1910 brothers; Max ( born in 1896) and Eduard ( born in
1902). Max Brower came to America in 1914 ( died in 1948 in Chicago).
Edurard perished in 1945.

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Sonia nee luria Brauer near her garden in Panevezys. Sonia
left Lithuania for America in 1940, shortly before it was taken by the
Soviets.

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The Brauer family. The picture was taken prior to Max
parting for America in 1914.from left; daughter; Tamara Szcepanski
(survived the war and came to
America with family), son Eduard ( perished in 1945) mother; Sonia nee
Luria, son; Max, daughter; Rachel Taborski (She was a dentist in
Poland, perished- her son survived- Boleslaw Taborski (b. 1927 in
Torun, Poland- now lives in London)) father; Menashe Brauer (died in
Chicago), Menashes' mother.

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Eduard with his sons Igor and Boris c 1936.

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The wedding of Fania (nee Kreiman) and Eduard Brauer,
Panevezys, 1924.
HaRav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman married them. Also seen in the picture
the parents of the groom; Sonia and menashe Brauer. The parents of the
bride who lived in the Soviet Union, could not attend the wedding.

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Fania Brauer with her sons; Boris and Igor. The family was
sent by the Soviets to Siberia a week before the Nazis invaded
Lithuania ( June of 1941). They survived- the father who was in Kovno
in June of 1941, was not sent to Siberia. he perished in Dachau in
1945.

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Sonia ( nee Luria) Brauer with her son Eduard, who served
in the Lithuanian army.

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HaRav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman visits Chicago in 1964 and meets
with Panevezys natives. on his left; Boris Brauer, on his right; Leo
Marcus ( the son of the brother of Grisha Marcus -who perished with
his family in Panevezys)

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Fania nee Kreiman with her son; Boris Brauer. Fania and her
other son; Igor, lived in the Soviet Union after the war. fania passed
away in the Ukraine in the 1970s'.

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Issac Chait with his cousin Metuka Segal in Panevezys. Metuka perished in 1941

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Metuka Zisa Segal (mother Rifka was from Kriger family) perished in Panevezys in 1941. Here she is in 1930 with cousin Benjamin and his daughter Syd Chait

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Kriger daughters left Panevezys in late 1920s

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Aryeh Segal and his sister Metuka (pictures taken at different times) Aryeh immigrated to Isreal at start of war Metuka perished in 1941. Children of Rifka nee Kriger

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The Kriger sisters, Rivka Segal, Asna Chait, with their daughters and nieces. Two on right, Rivka and daughter Metuka perished in Panevezys in 1941. The rest immigrated to Israel before the war.

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The Seder of the Brauers and Marcuses Pesach 1930.

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Hashomer Hatzair
Young members and their counselors, HaShomer haTsa'ir Zionist youth movement in Panevezys.

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A mass grave in Pajust, near Panevezys, Lithuania, in which 3,000 Jews were shot to death.

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Hashomer Hatzair 1926

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Moisey Luria (and his sister*) Rachil Luria (Kirschen*) , Ponevezh Feb 6, 1921
According to my father Dave Kempner, Rachil was a sister-in-law* to Leba Friedman,
father of Chana Peer Slavin, Batia and their brothers
Marlene Dobrin
Batia told me that her mother Asna had an older sister; Sara nee Even Luria ( born c 1870) . She lived with her husband; Eliezer Loria, in Birzai. They had children; Moshe (born c 1900) , Rachel also born in 1900, and Guta. Sara perished in Birzai with her family (see testimony http://www.eilatgordinlevitan.com/birz/birz_pages/birz_stories_batia.html). the people pictured would be the children of the sister in law.
Eilat

This photograph was taken in Panevezys during a family reunion (Shein, Riklis and Beniaminovich) in a summer in the late 1930s. The reunion marked the visit of Goida Gan, their cousin from Latvia. All of the people in the photo were murdered in Panevezys in 1941, with the exception of Goida Gan, who emigrated to Palestine before the war broke out.
Yad Vashem, Museums Division, Artifacts Collection

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a picture of Moisey and Rachil Luria Ponevezh Feb 6, 1921. According
to my father Dave Kempner, Rachil was a sister-in-law to Leba Friedman
father of Chana Peer Slavin and Batia Friedman of Birzai.

1927 graduating class of the Panevezys Hebrew Gymnasia. My father Zvi (Hirsh/Girsh) SEGAL is in the 2nd row, far right. Shmuel (Mula) GOLDSTEIN, (right end of 2nd row from the bottom) also ended up in Melbourne
Aron Segal, Melbourne.

Passover at Kibbutz Chaim, an urban kibbutz, Panevezys, Lithuania, 1934
Zelda Charit is second from the right. Rivka Shub is seventh from the left, in a light colored shirt.
Yad Vashem Photo Archives 4974/163

Boris Brauer (dovbaror@yahoo.com)
I was born in Panevezys on May 15 1925, alumni of Panevezio Zydu
Gimnazia and lived on Ukmerges gatve 34, phone 297 till June 14
1941.Then
Siberia, Red Army Bricha, Germany, various countrys, ZAHAL ETC. in USA
since
1956. family in Israel and here. Father Eduardas Braueras killed in
Dachau Jan
1945, came from Gheto Kaunas. ancestral male family from Kedainiai. I
am very
interested in contacting Jews from Panevezys.
Yad Vashem report;
Brauer Eduard
Eduard Brauer was born in Kedainiai, Lithuania in August 15, 1902 to
Menashe and Sonia nee Lurie. He was a businessman and married to Fania
( nee Kreiman). Prior to WWII he lived in Panevezys, Lithuania. During
the war was in Kaunas, Lithuania. Eduard perished in 1945 in Dachau at
the age of 43. This information is based on a Page of Testimony
submitted by his son; Boris Brauer from ( Van Nuys) California.

I have attached a photo (of Boris Brauer) I took at the Shoah
Foundation Farewell dinner.

Aryan Shommetoub

Boris was born in Panevezys in 1924.
Hello To All Those dear to Boris. It is with great sadness that we
inform you of this loss.

Our beloved, Boris Brauer, has passed on. He passed away in his home
in on the evening of January 9th. On Saturday, January Thirteenth, at
12 noon, we welcome you to join us in the celebration of his amazing,
colorful life. We invite you to reminisce and spend time
together--just as Boris would have wanted. He lives at 15341 Leadwell St., Van Nuys 91406.

In lieu of flower arrangements, we ask that donations be made to the
SHOAH in Boris' name.

Boris often said that the most that a human can hope to learn in this
life is the fact: as humans, we really know nothing. Although he had
the amazing capacity to touch so many and teach great wisdom, he
remained unequivocally a humble man. He left this poem behind and we
would like to share it with you:

I Look at Life as at a Rainbow

I look at life as at a rainbow.
Where does it begin
where does it end.
Colorful as it is.
I do not fear death.
There was no knowledge
before I was born
there will be no
Knowledge after I
die.

Thank you for all your love and support. We hope to see you
Saturday. If you have any questions or would like to call for any
reason, please feel free. You can get in touch with the Brauer Family
at (818) 780-8214.
For pictures of Boris, his family and friends go to;http://www.eilatgordinlevitan.com/panevezys/panevezys.html
pictures 19- 46

Boris at the Shoah Foundation Farewell dinner.

Aryan Shommetoub

LitvakSIG has thousands of vital records, and internal passport
records,
already translated, being translated, and in line to be translated for
the city of Panevezys. Unfortunately, the contributions from those
researching Panevezys have been comparatively slim.

If the interest in obtaining Panevezys records does not increase, with
an
accompanying influx of donations, we will be forced to discontinue
obtaining
Panevezys records and use our present resources to obtain records of
other
towns and villages. We want to spend our time and efforts obtaining
records
for those individuals who really want records and are willing to help
us
obtain records for their town.

A $100 donation for the Panevezys vital records and a $100 donation
for the
Panevezys internal passport records will bring thousands of records to
your
computer. In both cases, records from 1919-1940 will be included. None
of
these records were filmed and are not available from the Mormons.

To make a contribution to LitvakSIG, and obtain records, please go to
LitvakSIGs secure website. You can either use your credit card online
or
mail in your check or credit card information.

I would like to inform you about a most significant project that is occurring in Panevezys.

This past summer I was on a "Margol / Freedman, Lithuanian Roots Tour" and spent some time in Panevezys, where I met with Genadijus Kofmanas, Chairman of the Panevezys Jewish Community (Figure 1). I also had records of four family members buried in Panevezys and was keen to see the Jewish Cemetery (Figure 2).

To my great disappointment however, as many of you may know, The Cemetery was destroyed in 1966 and is now a park. The headstones were broken up and used for building, with the only acknowledgement that this was once a Jewish Cemetery, being a small stone with almost unreadable writing. (Figures 3-6). Genady has recently written an article on this in the Jerusalem of Lithuania Newspaper. (Figure 7). At his instigation The Panevezys City Council has drawn up plans for what seems to be a very nice memorial (Figure 8). The catch being that they need at least US$ 10,000 to 15,000 to start the project with a total cost of over $30,000 of which the City Council will contribute a part.

My wife and I are going to be contributing several thousand to the project and I am writing this to see if you would be prepared to contribute as well. Any amount would help, be it hundreds or thousands. The funds will be submitted through Howard Margol's American Fund for Lithuanian –Latvian Jews Inc. organization. Certainly in the US therefore, this will be fully tax-deductable. If you wish to discuss this with him he will be delighted to do so. (Email HOMARGOL@aol.com, phone: 404-261-8662). He asked me to reassure everyone that 100% of the contribution will be directed towards the project. If we can make a significant contribution we can honor our ancestors and get this memor ial built.

In 2009 Lithuania is celebrating the Millennium since its Historical Mention, which coincides with Vilnius being elected as European Capital of Culture. This would be the ideal time for The Panevezys City Council to celebrate their New Memorial to the Jewish Cemetery and Jewish Culture. Such a venture would undoubtedly bring many tourists with concomitant financial and political advantage

If you would like to discuss this further please call, email or let me know when I should call you.

A check can be made to: American Fund for Lithuanian –Latvian Jews Inc and mailed to me or I can get the bank transfer details for American Fund for Lithuanian –Latvian Jews Inc.